Gun charger



Nov. 20, 1951 P. E. HUMPHREY GUN CHARGER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed NOV- 9, 1949 Nov. 20, 1951 P. E. HUMPHREY GUN CHARGER Filed NOV. 9, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 RWM A TTOQN Nov. 20, 1951 P. E. HUMPHREY 2,576,015

GUN CHARGER Filed Nv. 9, 1949 5 sheets-sheer 5 INVENTQR. y P714 f. #mam/@Ey Patented Nov. 20, 1951 GUN yCHARGER Paul E. Humphrey, San Diego, Calif., assigner to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the United States Air Force Application November 9, 1949, Serial No. 126,347

Claims.

This invention relates to automatic gun chargers and more particularly to a gun charger mechanism attachable to automatic machine -guns for automatically charging or cocking the gun initially for nring, or in the event the gun fails to fire during the firing activity the gun charger will recharge the gun for continued ring.

Automatically firing machine guns in general use and of well known construction by mechanics skilled in the art require some power means to charge or cock the gun initially for the firing operation, or whenever the gun fails to rire one round the gun must be recharged for ring the following round. Once the gun is red recoil action supplies the energy for continued gun liring. In the event the gun trigger is released to cause the gun to cease firing, the energy resulting .from gun recoil is stored in the gun breech mechanism to reactivate the gun firing upon actuation of the trigger switch without the operation of the gun charger. If at any time the recoil action does not take place, as by one round refusingY to fire, or by the gun becoming empty, the gun must be charged or cocked to again initiate gun firing. While it is possible to charge or cock a machine gun manually, such manual charging of machine guns used in aircraft, tanks, etc., is impractical if not impossible in many instances, and a charging mechanism becomes a necessity.

In accordance with the present invention, a frame supporting a gun charging mechanism is attachable to a machine gun such that the vgun bolt stud which extends through both sides of the gun has its ends each operative along a channeled track of the gun charger. In one track is a gun bolt stud drive carriage positioned in front of the gun bolt stud and in the other track is a gun vbolt stud reset carriage positioned behind the gun bolt stud. An electric motor is supported in the frame and drives a cable pulley through a gear reduction train and a friction clutch. The cable pulley has one end of a cable attached thereto. The other end of the cable is attached to the gun bolt stud reset carriage. The electric motor also drives a planetary gear mechanism capable of driving a cable drum whenever the planetary gear carriage is held stationary. A cable is fastened at one end to the cable drum and at the other end to the gun bolt stud drive carriage to tending from the side face thereof which is engageable with a pin extending from the adjacent face of the clutch driven cam member. The lock cam member has a depression in its periphery into which a cam follower slidable on the peripheral surface thereof is adapted to drop. The cam follower slidable on the lock cam member is directly connected to the cam follower of the clutch driven cam member and these cam` followers are xed .as a unit on a bell-crank rlever pivoted to the frame. The other armof the bellcrank lever has a portion that is engageable with a stop portion on the planetary gear cage for stopping rotation 4of the planetary gear cage whenever the cam follower slidable on the periphery of the lock cam member is in the lock cam peripheral depression to cause rotation of the cable drum.

The bell-crank lever also actuates an electric switch to close a circuit to the electric motor in ,parallel to a trigger closing circuit to the motor whenever the gun charger is cycling -to charge-or cock the gun in order that the charging cycle may be completed whether or not the trigger circuit to the electric motoris opened.

By this construction the gun charger will operate automatically to charge or cock the gun to which vit is attached to initially condition the gun for ring, or to recondition the gun for iirng if for any reason one round fails to fire. To start the gun firing the firing trigger is actuated f to energize the electric motor Iwhich causes the cause the gun bolt stud drive carriage to engage y the gun `bolt stud and force it rearwardly to charge the gun whenever the planetary gear cage is held against rotation.

The driven member of the friction clutch element, 4which drives the cable pulley, has a cam peripheral surface thereon that is cooperative with a cam follower. A lock cam member rotatably mounted in close relation to the driven cam member of the friction clutch has a pin exreset carriage to advance forwardly of the gun until the lock cam member is rotated sufficiently to allow the cam follower to drop into .the lock cam member peripheral depression. This action positions one end .of the bell-crank lever in the path of the stop on the planetary gear cage. Holding the planetary gear cage ,against .rotation causes the cable drum to rotate `to pull the drive carriage rearwardly against the gun bolt stud to charge or cock the gun for ring. As the gun bolt stud is forced rearwardly it engages the reset carriage and forces this carriage rearwardly. Rearward .movement "of the -reset carriage forces the driven member of the clutch to yslip in a reverse direction Vof the driver clutch element. The cam portion on the V,clutch driven cam r`member forces the cam follower slidable thereon radially outward until the cam follower of the lock cam member is out of the peripheral depression at which time the ,gun should be '-completely charged. The lock cam member is springbiased to be rotated to a position in which the L clutch drive cam member pin and'lock .cam member pin engage. Release of the cam Afollower `from the 'peripheral depression on the lock cam member releases the cable drum for free rotation on vthe planetary gears. The gun bolt spring becomes active 'to force the gun bolt forward preparatory to gun firing carrying the drive carriage with it. A spring detent retains the drive carriage in its forward position during ,inactivity of the gun charger. Various other means may be employed to return and retain the drive carriage forward as by a separate cable and spring-biased drum to always resiliently bias the drive carriage to aV 'clutch will slip to permit the reset carriage to be 'returned to its initial or rearward position.

The gun charger also has a cam member piv- 'oted in the path of the gun bolt stud to be actu- 'erates automatically to charge the gun on which -it is installed with speed and positive action.

The gun charger mechanism is very compact making it very suitable for guns having small Y'operating space, as in the wings of aircraft. The "sole power source for the gun charger is an elec- Vtric motor which requires much less space than a gas cylinder for gun charging purposes. Electric motors are easily controlled from remote points and the power therefrom is not variable or exhaustible as may be realized of gas cylinder gun chargers. It is therefore an object of this invention to provide electric gun charger means attachable to a machine gun of the type having a gun bolt stud extending from opposite sides of 1 the gun which gun charger automatically senses inactivity of the gun during periods that the gun is triggered for firing and which gun charger au- -tomatically charges or cocks the gun for firing and completes the charging or cooking cycle although the trigger mechanism is deactivated to prevent firing. These and other objects and advantages will become more apparent as the description proceeds'when taken in conjunction with the ac- Y companying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the gun charger shown mounted on a machine gun'illusl' trated in phantom;

Fig. 2 shows an enlarged exploded isometric view of the movable parts of the gun charger;

Fig. 3 shows the planetary gear positive clutch means and the drive carriage cable drum in section Fig. 4 shows the friction clutch and reset cargram for the gun charger; and

' Fig. 7 shows a modified drive carriage and return mechanism for the gun bolt stud.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 1, there is shown a gun charger, generally referred vto by the reference character II, mounted on a machine gun I2 illustrated in phantom. The 'gun charger II has an inverted U-shaped frame member I3 which has the closed portion cut away at I4 to f orm two forwardly projecting parallel frame portions I5 and I6. The"forw`ard end of each of the frame members I5 and I6 have a widened portion with mounting holes I1 therein for attaching the gun charger II to the gun I2, the left end of the gun (not shown) being the muzzle end, hereinafter referred to as the forwardend of the gun and the gun charger. The back end of the gun charger Il, which corresponds to the breech end of the gun I2, supports a housing I8 inclosing the principal parts of the gun charger mechanism, later to be described.

yOn the inner surface of each frame extension I5 and I6 is a channeled C-shaped track 2I and 22, respectively, running substantially the full length of the frame I3.

Slidable in the C-shaped track 2| is a gun bolt stud drive carriage 23 having a stud 24 extending outwardly through the open `portion of the C-shaped track. Slidable within the C-shaped track 22 is a reset carriage 25 having a retracable outstanding lug 26 extending through the open portion of its track. In the normal firing condition of the gun the drive carriage is positioned near the front of the gun charger in the track 2l while the reset carriage 25 is positioned near the rear of the gun charger in the track 22 to permit the gun bolt stud 21 to operate through its normal recoiling cycles during the gun ring `operation without interference from the drive carriage stud 24 and with the necessary contact of the gun bolt stud with the reset carriagelug 26 during recoil action. Whenever the gun fails to re, although conditioned for ring, the reset carriage is operative to sense that recoil action is not taking place and the gun charger becomes operative to power the drive carriage 23 rearwardly or in the recoil direction such that the drive carriage stud 24 engages the gun bolt stud 21 to force it through the recoil cycle thus charging the gun, as will be presently described.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5, portions of the forwardly projecting frame extensions I5 and I6 may be seen therein as in Fig. l with portions of the C-shaped tracks 2l and 22, respectively, attached thereto. The

housing I8 is missing and the frame I3 is shownV cut away to expose the gun charger mechanism. An electric motor 3| is supported on the frame I3 in any suitable manner and has a small pinion spur gear 33 on its rotor shaft. In mesh with the motor spur gear 30 is a large idler spur gear 32 of a cluster combination having a small spur gear 33. The cluster gear 32--33 is rotatably mounted on the frame I3 in any suitable manner and has the small spur gear 33 in mesh with the large spur gear 34 of a second idler gear cluster. A small spur gear 35 of the second gear cluster is in mesh with a spur gear 36 fixed to a shaft 31 journaled in the frame I3. (See Fig. 3.) The two gear clusters 32-33 and 34-35 form a speed reduction gear train. Inwardly on the shaft 31 from the spur gear 3S is a shaft spur gear 38 secured to this shaft, and inwardly from the shaft spur gear 38 is a shaft sun gear 39 made integral or secured to this shaft. (See Fig. 3.) In mesh with the sun gear 39 are two planetary gears 40 rotatably supported by a planetary gear cage element 4I on planetary gear shafts 42. The cage element is completed by a retaining ring 43 to prevent endwise movement of the planetary gears 40. While the planetary gears are shownand described as being two in number, it is to be understood that any suitable number may be used. The planetary gear cage element 4I has preferably two lugs 44 thereon for use lin holding the planetary gear cage from Vrotation about the shaft 31 for reasons presently to become apparent.

Between the frame wall I3 Aand the retaining ring 43 is a cable drum 45 journaled lon the shaft 31 and having a flanged portion with an internal ring gear 46 meshing with the planetary gears 4U. The center of the cable drum has a cable anchor projection and plate 41 to :anchor one end ci a `drive carriage cable y48 thereto. Itzm'ay be seen :by this construction that the complete planetary gear system 39, 4.0, 4I, and 46 provides a positive clutch to vengage or disengage the power from the shaft 3] to the cable drum 45. When the planetaryygear cage `4I is free to .rotate on the shaft 31, rotation 'of the shaft 31 will cause the planetary gears 4I) to. rotate between the shaft sun gear 39 and the ring gear 46 producing rotation of the planetary gear cage 4I., the cable drum 45 remaining stationary because of the resistance offered by the drive carriage cable 48. If the planetary gear cage 4I were held against rotation, as by placing a member in the Apath of the lugs 44, the cable drum 45 would be rotated by the shaft 31 in the reverse direction through the planetary gears 46. The cable 48 passes over a pulley Wheel 49 (see Fig. 2) and is fastened to the drive carriage 23. The drive carriage 23 is impositively held in the forward or counter-recoil position by a leaf detent spring 56 snapped over a depression in the carriage body.

I'he shaft spur gear 38 meshes with a large spur gear 55 freely rotatable on a shaft 56 that is journaled in the frame I3. This last mentioned shaft is parallel to the shaft 31 and has .a cable pulley 51 keyed or otherwise nonrotatably fastened to the shaft end substantially over the C-shaped track 22 supporting the reset carriage 25. A reset carriage cable 58 has one end secured to the cable pulley hub and the other end fastened to the reset carriage after passing through a slot 59 in the frame I3 and over a pulley wheel 68 to pull the reset carriage 25 in the counter-recoil direction. Fixed to the shaft V56 to the right of the large spur gear 55, as seen in Fig. 4, is a driven clutch disk plate member EI having a peripheral cam surface 62. A spring element 63 is compressed.v vbetween the frame I3 and the large spur gear 55 to maintain this gear in frictional engagement with the driven clutch plate member 6I such that rotation of the large spur gear 55 will impart rotation to the shaft 56 until resistance on the shaft 56 is greater `than the frictional resistance between the large spur gear 55 and the driven vclutch plate 6I, the last two elements constituting a friction clutch. The cable pulley 51 has a `stop lug 64 thereon that is engageable with Ya stop lug 65 secured vto or integral with the frame I3 to limit lrotation of this cable pulley and of the vdriven clutch plate.

Rotatably journaled on the shaft 56 is a cam lock plate II restrained against longitudinal travel along this shaft by the driven clutch plate 6I and a snap ring 12. The cam lock plate 'II is circular except for an outstanding lug portion I3 and an adjacent depression 14. (See Figs. 4 and 5.) A spring 15 is interposed between the .driven clutch plate 6I and the cam lock plate 1I biasing the cam lock plate in a'rotative direction in which the lug portion 13 is leading. Outstanding from the adjacent faces of the driven .clutch plate .6I and the cam lock plate 1I are pins I6 and l1, respectively, that are radially positioned to become 'engaged by reason of the spring 15 biasing force. For simplicity of 4'design the .spring 15 may be anchored .to the-pins 16 and 11 but -separate spring-anchors. may be provided Aas .18 shown, where desirable.

.Pivotally `.mounted on theframe I3 as tby .a journal .pin 8| :is a bell-:crank lever 82.. (SeeFigs. 2 :and .5.) One lever arm .83 of .the .bell-crank lever ,has .a pair of cam .followers as rollers vil!! and .85 that are rotatively supported thereon Iby a pin or` any 4suitable means which cam fol-low rollers 84 and A85 are respectively cooperative with the peripheral cam surface V62 of the driven clutch plate 6I and the periphery of the cam lock plate 1I. The other lever farm 86 of the bellcrank lever 82 has a pawl portion 81 that is adapted to abut the planetary gear cage Vlug 44 under certain conditions of control later to be described. The lever larm .86,also has aprojection 88 thereon for convenience in actuatinga normally closed electric,V charge completion vswitch 89, the use and circuit of which willr'also .be described more fully later.

On the frame I3 at the backend of the" C- shaped track 22 (see Fig. 2) is rotatably mounted a counter switch actuator cam lever Si that is in cooperative relation with a counter switch 9 2. The carn lever 6I extends outwardly through the open portion of the C-shaped track 22 in .order to 'be struck by the gun bolt stud 21 during the recoil cycle. The cam 'lever 9I actuates the counter switch 92 Whenever the gun bolt stud strikes this lever to close the switchv contacts which are in circuit with a counting appliance. In order for the gun "bolt stud to be able to pass the reset carriage lug 26 to engage the counter switch cam lever, the lug '26 is pivoted at 65 and biased to extend outwardly Vthrough the open portion of the c-'sh'aped Ytrack 22 by a spring '36. The open portion of the C-shaped track 22 is closed'for `a short distance Aby a plate 9i which is engaged by the side '98 ofthe lug 26 when the gun bolt stud is recoiling to retract the free end of the lug 25 vout of the path of the gun bolt stud to allow this gun bolt `stud to continue in the recoil direction to ystrike the cam lever 9|. Invthe event the reset carriage Vlug 26 is extended while the gun bolt stud is behind i-t the gun bolt -st-ud will strike the cam face 6l) of the reset carriage llug 2G to force -this lug inwardly against the force of the lspring 95 permitting the -gun -bolt stud to continue to its counter-recoil position.

The reset carriage 25 and the drive carriage 23 are shown as blocks slidable within the C- shaped tracks 4but these carriages may have rollers or other means thereon to reduce friction, if desired.

Referring to Fig. 6, a simplified wiring diagram is shown with some elements of the device illustrated in block to offer an operative example of the gun charger. The wiring diagram illustrated is for direct current electric gun charger motor control although other electric systems may be used, as alternating multipl'iase currents, where conditions of the vehicle in which the gun charger is used dictate. Since the invention -does not lie in the control circuit, the various embodiments of this control circuit which may be used are not described` herein. The invention will be ably 'understood by reference to the control circuit 'in Fig. 6 in which the electric motor 3| is connected through parallel circuits, one parallel circuit of which includes the normally closed charge completion switch 89, shown open in this gure which is the position it is held by the lever arm projection rarm 88 during the ring, or theinoperative, Icondition. of the gun. A manual switch positioned on the frame I3 of the gun charger, as shown in Fig. 1, is for use by a person at the gun, as a repairman, or the like, who wishes to charge the gun regardless of the position of the rmg switch or of other remote control switches. A gun i'lring switch |02, which is usually positioned remotely from the gun and may control the firing of several guns, is actuatable to close a circuit to the electric motor simultaneously with the closing of the circuit through the firing solenoid |03 such that the motor 3| is energized at all times that the switch |02 is closed for gun firing as will presently be more fully understood. The counter switch 9| has an electrically actuated counter appliance |04 in its circuit to provide an indication of the number of rounds red at any time.

In the operation of the device, let it be assumed that the gun charger of this invention is bolted, as by stud bolts passing through the holes l1, to a machine gun of the type having a gun bolt stud passing through both sides of the gun from the breech mechanism. Let it further be assumed that the gun has just been loaded and therefore not charged. The gun parts and the gun charger parts will be at rest in the relative position shown in Fig. 1 in which the drive carriage 23 is heldin the forward position by the detent spring 50; the gun bolt stud is at rest at the limit of its counter-recoil position; and the reset carriage is at rest near the back end of its track, or near the limit in the recoil direction. In the position of the parts described above the various cams, gears, and levers in the housing of the gun charger will be resting in the relative position substantially as illustrated in Fig. 2. The reset carriage is positioned such that the lug 26 is just forward of the plate 91 and extended; the counter switch cam lever 9| is at rest holding the counter switch 92 open; the cable pulley 51 is positioned such that the stop lug 64 is slightly removed from the stop lug 65; the driven clutch plate 6| and the cam lock plate 1| have the pins 16, 11 thereof in engagement with the depression 14 substantially 180 degrees removed from the cam follower roller 85; and the bell-crank lever 82 is positioned with the cam follower roller 84 riding on the lobe of the peripheral cam surface 62 to hold the pawl portion 81 of the lever arm 88 out of the path of the planetary gear cage lugs 44, and to hold the projection 88 against the charge completion switch 89 actuator to retain the switch contacts open.

Upon the closing of the gun firing switch |02 the gun will not fire because it is not charged or cocked. With the closing of the gun ring switch |02 the motor 3| is energized to rotate the shaft 31 and the large spur gear 55. Rotation of the motor 3| is in a direction as to cause rotation of the shaft 31 in the clockwise direction (see Fig. 2). Rotation of the shaft 31 clockwise causes the planetary gear cage 4| to rotate clockwise also, but at a slower rate than the shaft 31, since the cable drum 45 is held against rotation by the drive carriage cable 48 attached to the drive carriage that is held against movement in the recoil direction by the leaf detent spring 50. Therefore, rotary motion is not transmitted to the cable drum 45 from shaft 31, at this time. .Y

Rotation of the large spur gear 55 inthe counterclockwise direction (as seen in Fig. 2)

rotates the shaftl 56 in the same direction to wind the reset carriage cable 58 on'fthe cable Ypulley 51. Pin 16 forces the cam lock plate 1| like` wise in the counterclockwise direction until the cam follower roller drops into, the depression 14, the short radius of the peripheral cam surface 62 being opposite the depression 14 when the pins 16, 11 are engaged to allow the cam follower roller 84 to drop radially inward. Upon the `cam follower roller 85 being dropped into the depression 14 the bellcrank lever 82 is pivoted clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 5, to release the charge completion switch actuator to permit the switch contacts to connect a parallel circuit to the motor 3| and to place the pawl portion 81 in the path of the planetary gear cage lugs 44; The engagement of one of the lugs 44 withy the pawl portion 81 halts the rotation of the planetary gear cage 4|.,which transmits a counterclockwise rotation to the cable drum 45 from the sun gear 39. The drive carriage cable 48 winds von the cable drum 4-5 pulling the drive carriage 23 in the recoil direction out of the leaf detent spring 50 to drive the carriage stud 2,4 and engage the gun bolt stud 21 pulling it in the recoil direction. The gun bolt stud in its recoil travel engages vthe reset carriage lug 46 and carries the reset carriage rearwardly, the friction clutch 55, G2 being slipped during this phase of the charging action. The driven clutch plate 6| is Vfrictionally slipped inthe clockwise direction (as seen in Fig. 2) until the cam follower roller 84 has ridden up the peripheral cam surface 62 to the lobe. While the driven clutch plate 6| is being rotated oppositely to the rotation of the large spur gear 55,v the cam lock plate 1| is held in position with the cam follower roller 85 resting in the depression 14, but during this time the spring 15 is becoming increasingly energized in potential energy. When the cam follower roller 84 reaches the lobe of the peripheral cam surface 62 the cam follower roller 85 will be out of the depression 14 whereupon the cam lock plate 1| will spin to a position in which the pins 16, 11 will again engage. At this point of the charging cycle the gun bolt stud 21 will have been moved sufficiently in the recoil direction to charge and cock the gun. Simultaneously with the cam follower roller 85 coming out of the depression 14 the pawl portion 81 releases the planetary gear cage lug 44 to free the cable drum 45 and the circuit through the charge completion switch is broken. Release of the power on the drive carriage 23 allows the gun bolt stud 21 to return to its counter-recoil position under powerV of the gun bolt spring, as is well recognized in the gun art, carrying the drive carriage 23 with it. The speed at which the drive carriage is carried forward in the counter-recoil direction supplies this carriage with sufficient kinetic energy to carry it to its limited forward position under the leaf detent spring 50. All of these various actions take place in a very short interval of time such that there is a very short time lapse after the gun firing switch is closed until the gun is fired.

Once the gun is fired the gun recoil action provides the energy for recharging the gun and gun firing is continuous as long as the gun ring switch is depressed. While the gun is firing, the motor 3| is energized and the friction clutch produces rotation 'of the shaft 56 to pull the reset carriage 25 in the counter-recoil direction, but with each recoil of the gun bolt stud the reset carriage is forced back to its initial starting position. Recoil resulting from nring. however,

aerobics forces the gun bolt stud 21 fartherback in the recoil direction than the drive carriage such lthat thel reset carriage lug 26 strikes the plate S1 retracting this lug and allowing the gun bolt stud to proceed until it is stopped by the gun recoil buffer well known in the gun art. The recoil end travel of the gun bolt stud 2l actuates the counter switch cam lever 8| actuating the switch to advance the count in a counter appliance indicating that another round was fired. If at any time the gun fails` to fire, there will be no recoil and the reset carriage will be pulled forward to condition the gun charger for recharging the gun as hereinbefore described. Although the gun firing switch is released during the charging operation, the charging cycle will be completed by reason of the charge completion switch being closed, and the gun Will be ready to re immediately upon the gun firing switch being subsequently depressed.

'It is well known among the mechanics skilled in the gun charger art that timers are sometimes used to allow a predetermined time for gun charging after which gun charging will be cut om Such timers are useful where the gun becomes empty or defective and continuous gun charging will be useless. Such timers may be used with the gun charger of this invention where advisable but, in the absence of any novelty claimed in incorporating such a timer, the description has not been burdened with the timer mechanism.v

Fig. 7 shows a modification of the drive carriage and a means to return the drive carriage to its forward counter-recoil position. Like parts of the construction in Figs. l. to will bear like reference characters primed. Drive carriage cable 48 passes over a pulley m5 journaled in the drive carriage 23 and it is anchored in the frame [3' at |06 in order to increase the pulling power of the cable drum. In order to return the drive carriage 23' to its initial forward position after completing the charging phase in the recoil direction, a cable drum |01 is freely rotatably journaled on the end of the shaft 31', or other spindle means Xed on the frame, and biased by a. spring |08 to resist travel of the drive carriage in the recoil direction by a cable IBS wound theren on and passed over a pulley lli! and attached to the forward end of the drive carriage 23. In this construction the spring w8 will be increasingly energized in potential energy when the drive carriage 23' is drawn in the' recoil direction to pull this carriage back once it is released by the planetary gear set at the end of its recoil travel. Likewise, in this construction, the leaf detent spring is not needed. The speed and power developed for the drive carriage can be determined by the motor 3|, by the several associated gears, and by the cable pulley mechanical advantage.

While I have shown and described preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understoodl that various modifications and changes of features and constructional details may bey made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention and I desire to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. An electric gun charger for use with a maoperable to travel in oner of said channeled tracks and a drive carriage operable to travel inthe other channeled track, said reset` and drivecar riages being longitudinally spaced along thechanfneled tracks with the reset` carriage rearwardly to receive a gun bolt stud longitudinally therebetween; an electric power motor supported by said frame; means frictionally coupling rsaid power motor to said reset carriage to power said reset carriage in a counter-recoil directiorrwith a force determined by the frictional coupling; means coupling said power motor to said. drive carriage to drive said drive carriage in therecoil direction; a positive engageable. clutch. in said last mentioned coupling means for selectively coupling said electric power motor with sa-iddrive carriage; and means operated by said frictional coupling for engaging said positive engageable clutch to cause said pcwer motor todrive said drive carriage in the recoil directionV when said reset carriage has advanced a predetermined: distance in the counter-recoil direction whereby a gun attached to the gun charger withv the gun bolt stud longitudinally between said reset and drive carriages will be charged' and Vcocked dur,- ing gun firing activity whenever thefgun fails :to recoil.

2. A gun charger for use with a machine gun of the type having a gun bolt stud operative along slot means in the gun comprising; a frame hav ing a track means extending therefrom; two carriages operative to travel in said track means; a motive power means supported in said frame, said motive power means being coupled through a friction clutch to drive one of said carriages in a counter-recoil direction and said motive power means being coupled through a normally disengaged positive clutch to drive the other of said carriages in a recoil direction; and means ope erated by the driven side of the friction clutch to said one carriage to engage said positive clutch after said one carriage has advanced a predetermined distance in the counter-recoil direction to effect a positive coupling between said motive power means and said other carriage to drive said other carriage in the recoildirection, the driving power of said other carriage in said re- -coil direction being sufficient to overcome the friction of said friction clutch to drive said' one carriage in the recoil direction by slipping said friction clutch until said one' carriage is sufciently retracted to effect disengagement of said positive clutch whereby a gun having said. gun charger mounted thereon with the gun bolt stud positioned between said gun charger carriages and the slot means parallel to said track means will be charged for firing whenever said gun bolt stud fails to recoil.

3. A gun charger as set forth in claim 2 wherein said friction clutch consists of a .driver gear and a driven clutch plate spring biased in side by side frictional engagement', said driven clutch plate having a peripheral cam surface thereon and a pin extending from a face thereof.; and said means operated by said driven side of the friction clutch is a cam lock plate rotatable on the axis of said friction clutch having a pin ex# tending from a face thereof engageable withthe pin on said driven clutch plate and having a depression on the periphery thereof, a spring bias'- ing said cam lock plateto bring said pins into engagement, a cam follower engageable with the cam surfaces of said driven clutch plate and said cam lock plate,r and a bell-crank lever having one lever arm connected to said cam follower and the other lever arm operable to engage and disengage said positive clutch whereby rotation of the driven clutch plate transmits rotation to said cam lock plate through pin engagement until said cam follower drops into said depression causing engagement of said positive clutch, and slip- 4page of' said friction clutch driven plate in reverse of said driver gear actuates said cam follower` out of said depression to disengage said positive clutch.

' 4. A gun charger as set forth in claim 3 where, in said positive clutch is a planetary gear means interposed between sun and internal ring gears in the motor-to-drive carriage coupling, said planetary gear means being supported in a cage with lugs engageable with said other lever arm of said bell-crank lever whenever said bell-crank lever is actuated to engage said positive clutch whereby the planetary gear means is held against rotation to drive said other carriage in the recoil direction.

5. A gun charger as set forth in claim 4 wherein said one carriage is driven by a cable attached thereto and wound on a cable pulley positively coupled to the driven side of said friction clutch, and said other carriage is driven by a cable attached thereto and wound on a cable drum geared to said planetary gearvmeans. Y

6. A gun charger for use with a machine gun of the type having a gun bolt stud operative through a slot in the gun comprising; a frame having carriage track means with portions thereon to be fastened to a gun with the track means parallel to the gun bolt slot; a drive carriage and a reset carriage operable to vtravel in said track means, said drive carriage adapted to be positioned ahead of the gun bolt stud of an attached gun with said reset carriage adapted to be positioned behind the gun bolt stud; motive power means in said frame; means mechanically coupling said motive power means through a friction clutch having a driven clutch plate with a peripheral cam surface and an outstanding pin on the side thereof to drive said reset carriage in the counter-recoil direction of the gun; means mechanically coupling said motive power means through a clutch to drive said drive carriage in the recoil direction; a cam lock plate freely rotatable on the axis of said driven clutch plate, said cam lock plate having a peripheral depressin therein and having a pin extending from a face thereof engageable by the pin on said driven clutch plate; a spring biasing said cam lock plate in a direction to bring the pin thereon into engagement with the pin on said driven clutch K plate; and a bell-crank lever pivoted on said frame, one leverfarm of said bell-crank lever being arranged to engage and disengage said clutch between said motive power means and said drive carriage and the other lever arm of said bell-crank lever having a cam follower thereon to cooperate with the peripheral cam surface of said driven clutch plate and the periphery of said cam lock plate whereby upon the gun charger being installed on an automatic gun said motive power means operates to drive said reset carriage in the counter-recoil direction for a predetermined distance whereupon said driven clutch plate and said cam lock plate are rotated suiciently for said cam follower to drop into said depression effecting engagement of s lid..Y Qlutch,

l2 between said motive power means and said drive carriage driving said drive carriage in the recoil direction to charge the gun, the drive carriage being operative through the gun bolt stud to force said reset carriage in the recoil direction against the friction of said friction clutch to rotate said driven clutch plate with respect to said lock cam plate to release the cam follower from said depression and disengage the drive carriage clutch.

7. A gun charger for use with a machine gun of the type having a gun bolt stud operative along a slot means in the gun comprising; a frame adaptable to be installed on a machine gun and having track means extending therefrom to overlie the gun slot means; drive and reset carriages operative to travel along said track means with said drive carriage forward of said reset carriage; means for frictionally power driving said reset carriage in a counter-recoildirection; means for power driving said drive carriage in the recoil di-l rection, said last named means having clutch means for connecting and releasing said drive carriage; means associated with said reset carriage for controlling said clutch means to connect said means for power driving said drive carriage when said reset carriage reaches a predetermined distance in the counter-recoil direction and for releasing said means from power driving said drive carriage when said reset carriage is forced a predetermined distance in the recoil di-y rection to enable said drive carriage to drive a gun bolt stud through its recoil cycle, said drive carriage being operative to force said reset carriage to overcome the friction of said clutch means for frictionally power driving said reset carriage when said drive carriage is being driven in the recoil direction; means for returning said drive carriage to and impositively holding said drive carriage in its initial forward counter-recoil position when said clutch means is released; and means for conditioning the power driving said drive carriage for insuring completion of said charging cycle.

8. A gun charger as set forth in claim 7 wherein said means for impositively holding said drive carriage in the counter-recoil position is a leaf detent spring having a portion to snap over a de pression in said drive carriage.

9. A gun charger as set forth in claim 7 wherein said means for returning said drive carriage to and impositive holding said drive carriage in its initial counter-recoil position is a cable drum supported on a spindle with a cable attached thereto at one end and to said drive carriage at the other end and having a spring attached thereto and to a stationary element to be increasingly energized in potential energy as said drive carriage is driven in the recoil direction.

10. An electric gun charger as set forth in claim '7 wherein said power for driving said drive car-- riage is an electric motor and said means for conditioning the power driving said drive carriage to insure completion of the charging cycle is an electric switch actuated by said means associated with said reset carriage to place said electric motor in a circuit parallel to the principal motor energizing circuit.

PAUL E. HUMPHREY` No references cited. 

